The Substance is a new horror movie starring Demi Moore, and early reactions suggest it gets so gory that the film might make you sick.
The Substance was one of the most talked about movies at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, with the movie inspiring walk-outs, while writer-director Coralie Fargeat took home the prize for Best Screenplay.
The new movie stars Demi Moore as a fitness guru who battles the onset of aging by taking a black-market drug that temporarily creates a younger, fitter version of herself. But it comes at a price, and shocking body horror follows.
The Substance received rave reviews in Cannes, and more recently at FrightFest in London, with the film currently sitting at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, from 72 reviews. And those critics have been focussing on the graphic nature of the film.
Deadline called The Substance 2024’s “smartest, goriest horror breakout,” while the outlet also suggests that “squeamish viewers should steer clear.”
THE SUBSTANCE rules, and I can’t wait for more people to see it. It’s upsetting, emotional, bloody, gutsy, yet so much fun. Demi Moore deserves all the praise. 👏👏👏You can read my full rave review for @ebertvoices at the link ⬇️ https://t.co/iBqEbi4xD4 pic.twitter.com/8o9mjySBRL
— Monica Castillo (@mcastimovies) September 6, 2024
Entertainment Weekly refers to “a visceral fantasia of blood and gore,” and calls the movie “a true work of body horror with bulging skin, creaking bones, pestilent fluids, and buckets of blood, literalizing the monstrous cost of remaining desirable.”
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Time talks about the “nutso, over-the-top gore,” then references “gross-outs,” a “gonzo bloodfest,” and the climactic “body-horror extravaganza.”
While Bloody Disgusting celebrated “something so entertaining and grotesquely over the top that it keeps you firmly in its grip until an epic, grand guignol finish.”
#TheSubstance's white-hot rage escalates throughout its epic 140-minute run time, building to a jaw-droppingly audacious climax. It’s demented and absurd in the best way possible.Read @RifewithKatie's full film review: https://t.co/UTxhxYntO5
— The A.V. Club (@TheAVClub) September 10, 2024
The horror website adds that The Substance puts its stars “through the wringer in the gross department” with special praise reserved for prosthetics and makeup effects designer Pierre Olivier Persin for “his part in bringing the jaw-dropping ick factor.”
The Substance hits screens on September 20, and based on these reactions, it might be advisable to bring a sick bag.
For more creepy content, check out our list of the best horror movies of all time, head here for scariest films based on true stories, or take a look at movies to get kids into horror.